Weekend pillagers: Vikings reenactors in the Shetland Islands

January 30, 2013

AFP/AFP/Getty Images

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Participants dressed as Vikings look through a programme of events as they prepare to participate in the annual Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick, Shetland Islands on January 29, 2013. Up Helly Aa celebrates the influence of the Scandinavian Vikings in the Shetland Islands and culminates with up to 1,000 'guizers' (men in costume) throwing flaming torches into their Viking longboat and setting it alight later in the evening.

AFP/AFP/Getty Images

8of26

Participants dressed as Vikings look through a programme of events as they prepare to participate in the annual Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick, Shetland Islands on January 29, 2013. Up Helly Aa celebrates the influence of the Scandinavian Vikings in the Shetland Islands and culminates with up to 1,000 'guizers' (men in costume) throwing flaming torches into their Viking longboat and setting it alight later in the evening.